How long will beer be good in a keg?

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pcutti19
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How long will beer be good in a keg?

Post by pcutti19 »

i am new to kegging and i am wondering how long i can expect my homebrew to stay "fresh" in the keg?

Other questions:
How long from kegging is a beer ready to drink? I am doing a belgian dark al on Saturday and wondering when i should expect to tap it!

I also assume, that once beer is in the keg it is best to keep it at in the kegorator- regardless of being tapped?

Thanks for your time-
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Lone Wolf
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Post by Lone Wolf »

Well I have had kegged beer that was over 4 months old and it tasted fine. I age my beer for at least 2 months and try to get it to 3 months old before I tap it. From what I hear some people carbonate it with a C02 tank and drink it after 2 weeks. I have taped beer that was 3 weeks old and 4 months old and found that the older beer that is let to mature tastes a lot better.
I keep my kegged beer at room temp. I just keep in a place that the temp is as stable as possible. I cycle through 14 kegs. I brew about once a month. Right now I will be brewing about every 2 weeks because my wife and just moved to a small farm we bought. And with all the packing and unpacking and the ton of work that has to be done I have not brewed in over 2 months. I
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force carbonation

Post by warthog »

i force carbonate with co2. my beers are drinkable after 1-2 weeks. however, as lw says, the beer is much better if i let it sit for a while.
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Re: How long will beer be good in a keg?

Post by Bob57702 »

I'm somewhat new to kegging but I have kegs of beer that are from a month to 10+ months old. I don't see why there would be any reason that a keg beer wouldn't be good (without tapping) as long as any bottled beer so long as the seals are good. I know of a few homebrewers that have Barleywines and Imperials over two years in kegs. The biggest downfalls for long term storing and general kegging are maintaining a seal and the in/out connectors. If you pressurize or tap the keg you can introduce infections from the line connectors or keg posts. I saw a homebrewer lose a wonderful 2+ year old Russian Imperial Stout because of this very reason.

Myself, I keg all of my beers, give them about 15 - 20 psi pressure and then store them at a constant cellar temp for as long as I can stand it. For my bigger beers (1.070+), Old Ale or Imperials, I try not to tap them before 6 months. I just recently tapped my holiday spiced Old Ale (Hoppy Holiday) and it is fantastic at 10 months old. The Imperial IPA is about the same age and it is exceptional.
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Post by Lone Wolf »

Something else you may want to get is a presage gage to test your kegs from time to time. I had 6 kegs go flat on me when the seals went on them. So do your self a favor and pick up new kegs seals and pop it valves for your kegs. You may want to pick up a new lid for your kegs to. I had one keg that would not hold a seal no matter what. I replace all the seals and it still leaked. I even replace the presser relief valve and the little feet on the lid no go. The only thing left was the lid. I took a lid from a different keg and tried it and it worked. Not sure what was wrong with the lid. It may have been warped a little.


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Re: How long will beer be good in a keg?

Post by Lone Wolf »

Bob57702 wrote:. I saw a homebrewer lose a wonderful 2+ year old Russian Imperial Stout because of this very reason.

.

2+ year old :shock: I never heard of been lasting that long!! It must have been a very hi gavity beer.

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Post by thebirdman »

I've been told 1 year plus....
I use a 20lb tank with a 6 port distribution lines, 6 kegs sitting under 14 psi
1 on tap and one cooling under serving pressures...
I Just cycle them through as needed :)
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Post by hansolo »

So, to add to this question, if the keg doesn't go flat and it is in a kegerator, say a 5 gallon corny, will i be able to drink it moderately to the last drop?
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Post by thebirdman »

hansolo wrote:So, to add to this question, if the keg doesn't go flat and it is in a kegerator, say a 5 gallon corny, will i be able to drink it moderately to the last drop?
Definatly.....
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Keg Me!

Post by hansolo »

Well that does it! I am buying some kegging equipment reall soon!!! Woohoo!!
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Re: Keg Me!

Post by Lone Wolf »

hansolo wrote:Well that does it! I am buying some kegging equipment reall soon!!! Woohoo!!
You will like kegging. Cleaning out one keg is better then cleaning out all those bottles. :)

Also something I do is cut off about 1.5 inches of the bottom of the pick up tube. That way you do not suck off the bottom all settlement that will be on the bottom of the keg. Makes your 1st few beers nicer to drink.


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Post by hansolo »

A follow up, I have started to shop around for kegging equipment. Woohoo!
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Post by Lone Wolf »

hansolo wrote:A follow up, I have started to shop around for kegging equipment. Woohoo!
Here is one of the places I shop for my kegs. http://morebeer.com/search/102291 I puck up 4 reconditioned kegs from them. All 4 had pressure when I got them. I did have a problem with one of the kegs about a month later. The hole in the keg was out of shape and would not seal. When they pressure the kegs before they ship them they use an air compressor to do the job. So they got it to seal. Now it was past the return period but I want to let them know about it anyway. To make a long story short I e-mailed them and sent pictures they called me and after a short talk they sent me a replacement keg and a UPS return slip for the old one.


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Tanks, lol

Post by hansolo »

Thanks for the info I will be researching a while before I make my decision but More Beer! is one of the places I was considering
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Post by Lone Wolf »

http://www.thegrape.net/ and http://www.northernbrewer.com/ is the other places I buy. Thegrape has a good price on DMA and resonable shipping on it to.



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